Project 52 by Bryan (BJ Denning)

[BJ Denning]

I hope that this post is taken in the spirit it is written, I mean no offense. I am a true American, a quarter this and a half that and a tenth something else, a mutt. We love America and all the opportunity she brings, while knowing her failures.

Yet while we love America, Americans also love their heritage. We have many roots and enjoy celebrating them as well. A local town held a Tartan festival this weekend. And I am primarily Scottish/German. I won't pretend to understand Scotch culture/tradition, but there is something in me that reacts to and enjoys the pipe and drum corps and the local representatives of clans and their stories (although haven't caught a taste for haggis yet).

I hope you enjoy a few shots from today’s adventure and perhaps smile at your distance cousins celebrating what it means to be Scottish

All taken with a Canon 7d, 70-200mm 2.8II.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Some nice captures there Bryan - all very sharp and colourful which tell an interesting story. My favourite would have to be the one of the little boy watching by the river.

[BJ Denning]

SO I'm pretty sure I'm still about 1 week ahead. The weather is beautiful and the days are getting longer. Had to get out for some photos of animals.

All are 7d 70-200/2.8II
Flamingos are back for the season ...


Ruby is a mother orangutan. She is so sweet and patient with the young ones and the crowds.


This guy is giving me the "you're standing a little close " look.


One last one, a token flower shot since I visited the local botanical garden also.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Great shots Bryan and if you're a week ahead, I think I'm at least a week behind! Are the flamingos really that colour? They look almost over saturated on my monitor.

[FrankMi]

Hi Bryan! Compositionally, this is a nice set of images.

I usually love bright colors but particularly in the first two images, that look just a bit over-the-top compared to what I would expect to see. It looks like you could use a bit more space behind the bird so as to not clip the head feather. Hope this helps!

[BJ Denning]

Thanks Mal, Frank,

Flamingo are a little oversaturated, they were just introduced and were more colorful than they will be later in the season, but still a little overdone.

As always, I appreciate the feedback.

[BJ Denning]

This weekend was the Championship for FIRST robotics. 30,000 participants, 600 teams from 32 countries descended on St. Louis to enjoy some of the hardest fun you can have.

These kids are truly impressive. FIRST allows students to take academic skills and apply them in a practical way. They live birth to death, a project in 6 weeks. The challenge changes every year and the teams must handle the technical as well as the business of the project by raising funds for materials and travel.

I enjoyed speaking to teams from Germany, Israel, South Africa, New Zeeland, Australia, China, Turkey, and all over the US.

The game was to shot nerf basketballs into four goals for points. Three robots on a team, two teams on the field. In the last 30 sec, additional points are awarded if you balance your robot on a balance ramp -- more robots balanced equal more points.

I don't do too many events and this was a great learning experience. The lead photographer was really easy going and opened my eyes to all the pre-work that needs to be done to make photographing an event successful.

Team Spirit


Focus:


And the Thrill of Victory


Of course all the major engineering firms recognize the opportunity of this event and program.
NASA is a huge sponsor and brought a mock-up of the new Mars rover -- Curiosity. This fella is huge, that is a 10ft board behind it.


And because I know there are aviation enthusiasts. Boeing brought an F/A-18 E/F Simulator with the latest advanced cockpit displays.

[Geoff F]

They all work fine for me Bryan.

Good camera angles, exposure and focus.

[BJ Denning]

Thanks Geoff.

Event photography is a learned skill and I have allot of learning to do. While I appreciate the motion blur on some shots, I need to be better prepared to control when it happens and when it shouldn't. I find that I am still uncomfortable pushing the high ISO. Most of these were 800 -1250 and I find that I should have gone higher to get the proper shutter.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I think you've actually got some really good shots there Bryan. I think the first three are outstanding - perfect moments with some great angles which clearly show the intensity of what's going on - not an easy thing to do!

[BJ Denning]

Well this weekend was the "super"moon and packed with small town spring fairs. I didn't get any usable moon shots, but below are a few from a local fair and my wait for the Moon to come up.





And my attempt at HDR ... definitely more to learn

[FrankMi]

Three eye catching images Bryan. Other than under the fenders, I'm not sure you would need HDR processing to bring out these details. If you are using Tonemapping for more than just getting a larger exposure range, for example, to boost the colors a bit, take a look at Topaz Adjust. It does a better job and has far more options.

[BJ Denning]

This week I was surprised by a Chinese Lantern festival being setup at a local botanical garden. I was out to see what I could find and ran into the following shots. Can't wait till the exhibit opens and I have a chance to get shots at night with the lanterns lit.

Taken with Canon 5d II, 24-105L





This one was made of porcelain plates and tea cups

[BJ Denning]

Had a couple opportunities this week. First was taking some shots of a co-workers soccer team. This was my first attempt at sports shots and was allot of fun. I got more than a few shots that I liked, we'll see if the parents agree. Apologies for not posting.

Second opportunity was a Local Renaissance Fair. This was my first and allot of fun. They had 17 acres of a 15th century French village setup with in-character staff/volunteers. All were friendly. I'm horrible at "street" photography. I always feel as if I'm invading their space, so this is a growth area. As such, my favorites are still life, but I'll throw a few people shots in and hope for some great advise. As always C&C welcome and encouraged.

Armour from a local association that strives to learn and maintain old crafts/skills


What 15th century era is complete without a Bishop/Cardinal


Rogues entertaining the crowd (for coin of course)


And the aparatus that every parent of a teen needs

[BJ Denning]

So I had another attempt at the "street" photography at the same Renaissance Fair. C&C welcome.

I tend to like red, so I liked this dress. I felt really bad for the girl since is was 95 degrees F (35 C) out.


And attempt at some action ...


And a celebrity impresonator ... is this Johnny Depp ... "Captain Jack Sparrow"

[BJ Denning]

Been rather busy lately. Recently returned from a trip to Singapore. Unfortunately the majority of the time was spent for work. So I took every opportunity, i.e. walking to dinner in the evening, to take a few shots. Not super happy with any in particular. I would love to have more time in the area. So perhaps these are an opportunity to be creative in photoshop.

This was my first real travel trip with camera. All photos were handheld, 5d MkII with 24-105L. I wasn't comfortable taking my tripod, mostly because it was a 30 hour trip with two connections and foreign ports.

Marina Bay -- Big mistake was to put the horizon in the middle ...


Merlion


Clark Quay

[BJ Denning]

SO I'm running a little behind. I have fell back into more comfortable territory. The Lotus are blooming at the local botanical garden so I got up early to try to get reasonable light.


Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: -0.67 EV


Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: -0.67 EV


Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 92 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: -0.67 EV

[BJ Denning]

Being caught up is great ;-) This week a local studio had an open shoot, so I stepped outside my comfort zone. The theme was "pin-up". Portrait/Studio shoots are very new to me. Add onto that, attractive women flirting . I have enough trouble concentrating...

I think I shy away from these subject because when I first started photography and would talk to someone about enjoying taking pictures, they would express concern about encounters they or others had had with someone who bought a camera and suddenly decided that they were going to be a nude photographer and approach every women they could find. I have no interest in nude, burlesque. etc. However, I really enjoy taking photos of people, learning about them, and helping produce a photo that meets their idea of themself.

Since this was a "theme" night, I don't claim these photos represent anyone (but they seemed to enjoy playing the part). There were quite a few photographers present, all shooting at the same time, flashes were poping (some on-camera, some remote triggered, and some photo triggered). This made getting a good exposure difficult, but I think I learned a little more.

Below are a few that I liked, C&C welcom.

Trying for a lomography "look".



Trying out a shopping sub-plot


I just couldn't help but fall for her eyes ...

[Geoff F]

They work for me; but I just wonder if #2 is one of those cases where a slight suitable background would be an improvement.

[BJ Denning]

Thanks for viewing and commenting Geoff. I would agree about the background, but I didn't have any options. There were about 12 of us in a small studio, the sets were already setup (I guess I could try to photoshop). The two lomo shots where very high ISO (at least for my taste), hench the lomo treatment to use the graininess.

All in all a worth while experience. I still have lots of improvement to make. I need to get better an interacting with the models while taking shots, giving direction and such. Luckily this young lady was a character and kept things light and fun.